This year’s Fire Prevention Week campaign, “Every Second Counts: Plan 2 Ways Out!,” works to better educate the public about the critical importance of developing a home escape plan and practicing it.
The Mendham Fire Department is working in coordination with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the official sponsor of the Fire Prevention Week for more than 90 years, to reinforce those potentially life-saving messages. This year’s Fire Prevention Week theme: “Every Second Counts: Plan 2 Ways Out!” is very important, because in a fire, seconds count. Seconds can mean the difference between residents of our community escaping safely from a fire or having their lives end in tragedy. It reinforces why everyone needs to have an escape plan. Here’s this year’s key campaign messages:
- Create an Escape Plan with all members of your household, marking two exits from each room and a path to the outside from each exit.
- Practice your home fire drill twice a year. Conduct one at night and one during the day with everyone in your home, and practice using different ways out.
- Teach children how to escape on their own in case you can’t help them.
- Make sure the number of your home is clearly marked and easy for the fire department to find.
- Close doors behind you as you leave – this may slow the spread of smoke, heat, and fire.
- Once you get outside, stay outside. Never go back inside a burning building.
Fire Prevention Week Quiz
About Fire Prevention Week
In 1920, President Woodrow Wilson issued the first National Fire Prevention Day proclamation, and since 1922, Fire Prevention Week has been observed on the Sunday through Saturday period in which October 9 falls.
Every morning during Fire Prevention Week—October 8 – 14, 2017—the Mendham Fire Department will share a tip on our Facebook and other social media profiles. Looking for more? visit firepreventionweek.org.
